|
August Is Puprle Ribbon Month. Purple Ribbons Are Tied Up All Over Corona And Other Areas To Remeber Kaitlyn As Well As Never To Leave A Child Unattended In A Vehicle. Come In And Get Your Purple Ribbons At Little Bitty Prints.
CORONA
RESIDENT GIVES KEEPSAKE TO PARENTS OF CHILDREN WHO DIE
 What's new: Leigh Anne Logue enjoys giving a unique keepsake to the parents of children who have died. For seven years, the Corona woman has visited mortuaries and hospitals to make ceramic hand and footprints of deceased babies and children. She gives the plates free of charge to the bereaved parents.
Memories fade over time, she said, "but this is something tangible." The ceramic prints are something parents wouldn't otherwise have, "a lasting memory."
In 2003, Logue opened her business, Little Bitty Prints, in a 1,000-square-foot building on Main Street, across from Corona Regional Hospital.
What it offers: In addition to doing babies handprints, Little Bitty Prints has tons of new and gently loved
children's items. Car seats, stroller, toys, clothes, high chairs, and so much more, all at a fraction of the cost. Logue said she has made more than 200 ceramic prints of babies who have died. The for-charge part of her business includes handprints of living babies and used children's items. She said she derives deep satisfaction from helping parents grieve the death of a child by providing the keepsake. It is her way of giving back, she said. "It makes me feel that I didn't just keeping taking from life, I gave back to someone."
She said she is on the call list at Corona Regional Hospital and at local funeral homes. When a baby or young child dies she is contacted to do the print.
When it is open: Monday through
Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
When it opened: 1998
Where it is: 815 S. Main St., Suite B
About the owner: Logue has lived in Corona since 1997. She has been making ceramic prints for 10 years. She is married for 20 years and has three children.
Find out more: 951-278-8199 or on the Web www.littlebittyprints.com
By SHARILYN BANKOLE
Special to The Press-Enterprise
^ back to top
CERAMIC MEMENTOS
Corona woman creates Little Bitty Prints
 CORONA—Leigh Anne Logue
was driving down Main Street in Corona when she saw a store for lease. She
decided to rent it and started her business, Little Bitty Prints, which
offers keepsakes, clothing, toys and more.
But in August 2000, her business took a
turn she never thought it would.
Logue had previously done ceramic moldings
of newborn babies' feet, but this was a different case.
On Aug. 15, 2000, 6-month-old Kaitlyn
Russell was left in the car by her baby sitter and died from the heat.
"She was just a happy baby who brought
so much life to our family," said Kaitlyn's mother, Tammy Russell.
"She was an unexpected blessing; she was the icing on our cake."
After Logue had heard about what happened
to Kaitlyn Russell, she said she felt sick to her stomach.
"For three days I just couldn't
sleep," Logue said.
There was something that told Logue that
she needed to take the prints of Kaitlyn Russell and give them to her
family.
"There's got to be somebody else who
can do this," Logue recalled thinking. But the feeling wouldn't go
away.
"I was actually terrified," Logue
said.
Logue knew a friend of the Russells and
decided to offer them the service of having Kaitlyn Russell's hand and
footprint placed in plaster as a remind of their daughter.
"I felt very blessed that she would go
and do that for me," Tammy Russell said. "I would have never
thought of having it done, and I am so grateful that Leigh Anne had done
that for me."
When Logue went to Rose Hills Mortuary in
Whittier, where Kaitlyn Russell's body was being kept, they ordered her to
take a psychological test and had her fill out various forms.
Because Russell had been left in a car and
the interior had reached a high temperature, Logue was warned before she
went in about what Kaitlyn may look like.
But when Logue saw Kaitlyn, it was not what
she expected.
"She was beautiful," said Logue,
"I mean, she looked like a sleeping baby."
Logue described herself as someone who does
not usually gush over babies, but when she saw Kaitlyn Russell, there was
something different.
"I felt the most amazing thing I have
ever felt in my whole life," said Logue. What she felt was a sense of
peace that she can only describe as being stronger than happiness, money
or even love.
"It was the craziest thing," said
Logue. "It was really great."
So because of her experience, Logue has
decided to do this for others, including memorializing adults and pets who
have passed away.
"Now I do this for other babies as a
gift from her," said Logue.
From Palm Springs to Whittier, Logue has
taken the molds of the hands of deceased children and created a ceramic
memory of them for loved ones.
 She
puts their hand and footprints in clay and allows the clay to dry. It is
then fired, at which point it becomes ceramic. Logue glazes it and then
fires it a second time.
"Each firing and each cool is about 36
hours each time," said Logue. Though it may seem simple, it involves
a lot of work and time, which is why it can take four to six weeks to
complete.
But sometimes, the work can be more
difficult emotionally than physically.
Logue said she has been teased about what
she does, that people make ignorant remarks. she said she continues to do
it, not because it is fun or glamorous, but because she knows that by
giving these families something tangible to remember their loved ones by,
she is doing something meaningful.
"It's not a pretty thing to do,"
said Logue, who never expected that she would learn to be comfortable
around deceased infants.
Logue has taken the prints of babies of
various ages. she has taken prints from babies who have drowned, died in
car accidents and even babies who are stillborn.
"It's not easy," said Logue, who
admits that she does not consider herself to be brave.
But Cissy Clement, funeral director at the
Thomas Miller Mortuary in Corona, thinks otherwise.
"She's terrific," said Clement.
"She comes the minute she gets the phone call."
The mortuary will call Logue, or sometimes
the Corona Regional Medical Center will call Logue, and Logue will call
the mortuary.
"The families are usually
surprised," Clement said.
Sometimes it is forgotten that Logue also
does the ceramic prints for babies who are alive. Logue has a little cart
she can push around Corona Regional Medical Center so she can make prints
of the infants' hands and feet the day they are born.
Bonny Maronna, OB technician in labor and
delivery at Corona Regional Medical Center, met Logue seven years ago when
Logue was still operating her business out of her garage.
Since Maronna never had the opportunity to
have her children's hand and footprints done when they were babies, she
took her brother's children to get theirs done. To this day, Maronna said
her niece will see the print and say, "That's my hand."
Maronna said Logue is on the postpartum and
fetal demise checklists at Corona Regional Medical Center.
"She's a spark," Maronna said.
"She is such a loyal and kind person."
Maronna said even if something happens late
at night, Logue will go to the hospital.
"It's a great service that she does
for our hospital," Maronna said.
Some parents who lost children without
knowing about the service Logue performs have requested a ceramic frame
with a Bible verse on it. On the back of each ceramic set of prints or
frame she writes the date of birth and, if applicable, death.
"It just gave me comfort to know that
someone I didn't know, that didn't know Kaitlyn, cared so much,"
Tammy Russell said.
By Melissa Lau
City News
Published January 13, 2006
Copyright City News
Reprinted with Permission from the City News.
^ back to top
CASTS MADE OF BABY HANDS, FEET
A CORONA BUSINESS CREATES CERAMIC MODELS AT NO CHARGE WHEN INFANTS HAVE DIED OR ARE TERMINALLY ILL.
CORONA—Leigh Anne Logue looked over the body of baby Kaitlyn Russell, her tiny arms bent at the elbow, and hands beside her head.
"She looked so beautiful. She looked like she was sleeping," said Logue.
Kaitlyn, 6 months old, died Aug. 15 inside a van that investigators estimated reached 130 degrees. Her baby sitter has been charged with manslaughter and felony child endangerment and is free on $25,000 bail.
Logue went to Rose Hills Mortuary in Whittier to create a memory of Kaitlyn Russell that could never fade. She took a slab of gray modeling clay and gently pressed the child's hand and foot into the moist surface. The imprints would be a gift for parents Colin and Tammy Russell and would forever change Logue.
"It was almost like Kaitlyn giving a gift," she said.
Logue gave Tammy Russell the ceramic impressions of Kaitlyn's hand and foot several weeks later. At the time, Russell took the ceramic, placed it against her heart and cried.
"They mean the world to me," Russell said. " I didn't have a lot of other things from Kaitlyn except her pictures."
Logue owns Little Bitty Prints, a ceramic hand and foot print home business she began in 1997. After making the ceramic prints of Kaitlyn Russell, Logue decided to craft the impressions free of charge of any baby who has died or is terminally ill.
What began as a small, home business that allowed her to be close to her family has blossomed. She estimates that she has made several thousand ceramic imprints of babies over the years -- up to 200 in a month.
Once the imprints are taken, Logue lets the clay dry for a week, then she fires the model inside a home kiln for up to 10 hours, which hardens the surface.
Twenty hours after the ceramic cools, she stamps the baby's name around the ceramic disc or heart and places the birth information on the back.
 Corona resident Krista Ford brought her 2-week-old son, Kyle, to have his hand and foot imprinted into clay on Friday. Kyle fussed and cried as his tiny fingers were softly pressed into the cold clay.
"He has really good lines," Logue said of the baby's hands and feet. Ford smiled. "Long life lines," she said.
Inside Logue's garage and workshop, dozens of ceramic imprints fill the sidewall. Pink hands, denim blue feet, yellow fingers, green toes and even a couple of dog paw prints.
After several small business attempts, Logue said she has found her calling. "It's my passion," said Logue.
By Michael Coronado
The Press-Enterprise
Inland Empire Newspaper
Published February 2001
Copyright The Press-Enterprise Co.
Reprinted with Permission from the Press Enterprise.
^ back to top
4 R Kids Sake
www.4rkidssake.org
 On August 15, 2000, baby Kaitlyn (seen in photo) died as a result of being negligently left alone by her baby sitter in a van that reached an estimated temperature of 130 degrees Fahrenheit!
Please help prevent this senseless loss from happening by visiting 4rkidssake.org.
4 R Kids Sake is a non-profit organization founded by Kaitlyn's parents whose mission is to protect our children from preventable injuries and death in and around cars.
Kaitlyn Would Have Been 6 This Year.
^ back to top
| 
